This photo shows amateur radio station WB3GNB as it appeared in Fall 1977.
It was located in my 2nd floor bedroom.
My transmitter, a Heathkit DX-35, is the large box in the center of the photo. My antenna was a sloping length of magnet wire which you can see disappearing off the top right corner of the photo. It ran out my window and down to an insulator which was tied to the rear fence in our back yard. On top of the transmitter sits my homemade L-network antenna tuner consisting of a coil of wire wrapped around a piece of plastic drain pipe and a variable capacitor salvaged from an old AM radio. An antenna switch allows selection of either the sloper antenna or a dummy load. My receiver, a Hallicrafters SX-140, is just barely visible at the right side of the photo. On the left side of the photo is a loudspeaker, a Heathkit SWR bridge, and a pair of Sennheiser headphones. |
On 24 January 1978 I passed the General and Advanced Class amateur radio
examinations at the FCC office in Philadelphia, PA.
In May I constructed a homebrew electronic keyer using 4000 series CMOS ICs
and purchased a Bencher iambic paddle. In August I constructed a
Heathkit HW-8 transceiver for the 80, 40, 20, and 15 meter bands.
This photo shows my upgraded station after I moved it to the basement of the townhouse. As you can see from the wall, the basement had a significant moisture problem! The HW-8 transceiver, Bencher paddle, and homebrew keyer are on the desktop. I made the desk from a 1960s vintage RCA color television cabinet. |
On 13 September 1978 I installed this Hy-Gain 18AVQ vertical antenna in the back yard of our rented townhouse in Newark, DE. My neighbors referred to it as "Radio Free Newark". My girlfriend, a University of Delaware student whom I would later marry, posed here with the antenna just before I dismantled it prior to moving to a house I purchased in Yorklyn, DE in April 1980. |
This is my current station, located in the basement of my home. The Heathkit HW-5400 that I assembled in July 1983 is my primary HF rig. |